Key Factors Affecting Power Consumption in Telecom Base Stations
For telecom operators, the quality of the network is the focus of operation cost control, and the quality of the network depends on the number of base stations and coverage in the network. However, when telecom operators carry out network optimization, they will encounter such a problem: how to minimize the number of base stations? How to reduce the power consumption of BTS under the premise of meeting the network coverage?
Many people will think of improving BTS coverage and reducing the number of BTSs, but this is not the case. Today we will analyze the factors affecting the power consumption of base stations from theory and practice for your reference.
The larger the coverage area of the BTS, the larger the power consumption it generates, so to reduce the number of BTSs, you have to reduce the coverage area of the BTS. Then, how to determine whether an area has reached the coverage requirements of the plan? Here we illustrate the problem through theoretical analysis and practical testing.
In the process of cell switching, if the switching radius between cells is small, it will generate more switching times, which will lead to larger switching power. Because switching is a continuous process and the base station is a device that works periodically, the switching loss accounts for a large proportion of the total power consumption of the base station.
When the inter-cell distance is too large, it will lead to a long switching distance, which will result in a higher number of switching times; while when the inter-cell distance is too small, it will lead to a short inter-cell distance, which will result in a higher number of switching times. So when the inter-cell distance is too large, it is necessary to increase the distance between cells, thus reducing the power consumption of the base station.
In the actual network, in order to reduce the energy loss caused by frequent switching, the following two methods can usually be used:
- Increase the cell coverage;
- increase the distance between cells.
The power consumption of the base station is directly related to the power, and the size of the power consumption of the base station mainly depends on the transmit power of the base station, which in turn depends on the communication distance of the base station. Therefore, the magnitude of power consumption of the base station is also limited by the power budget of the base station. In order to ensure the normal operation of the network, the operator must plan the coverage area of the base station in advance and calculate the power that needs to be transmitted, so as to match the power budget with the coverage area.
The number and location of antennas are one of the main factors in determining the coverage area of the BTS and reducing the power consumption of the BTS. If the antenna position is not set properly, it will increase the coverage range of the BTS, but at the same time, it will also lead to an increase in the power consumption of the BTS.
According to theoretical calculations, under the same conditions, the more the number of antennas, the greater the coverage area, but at the same time will also lead to an increase in power consumption of the base station. Therefore, when designing the base station, the number of antennas should be reduced as much as possible, and at the same time, it is also necessary to ensure the balance between the network coverage range and the power consumption of the base station. In addition, if you need to use more antennas to expand the network coverage and reduce the power consumption of the base station, you can consider using high gain antennas.
Antenna feeder system is a very important equipment in the base station, it is the main energy source of the base station, so the antenna feeder system is also the main influence factor of the power consumption of the base station.
1, feeder loss refers to the connection loss between the antenna port and the end of the feeder, as well as the connection loss between the antenna port and the end of the feeder, which account for a larger proportion in the total loss. At present, most of the feed lines used are coaxial cables, which have the disadvantages of high loss, high power and complex installation.
2, the feeder efficiency is the ratio of antenna port output power to input power, which is related to the directional coefficient of antenna port and feeder length. However, as the number of antenna ports and directionality coefficient increase, its trend will gradually become smaller. According to experience, if there are four antenna ports in one direction and the directivity coefficient is 1, then the power consumption of the antenna port is only half of that when there are four antenna ports in one direction.